A political slugfest had kicked off after Syed Shuja, a US-based hacker claimed that in his capacity as a ECIL team member in 2013-2014
The Election Commission of India on Monday came out strongly to rubbish the claim that there were attempts to hack or tamper the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) by a purported former employee of the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). A political slugfest had kicked off after Syed Shuja, a US-based hacker claimed that in his capacity as a ECIL team member in 2013-2014, they had discovered that though EVMs are standalone devices that cannot be hacked remotely through Bluetooth or WiFi, it is possible to tweak them through their algorithm. The EC refuted these claims via Skype at an event in London on Monday.
"Whereas, ECI has been wary of becoming a party to this motivated slugfest, ECI firmly stands by the empirical facts about foolproof nature of ECI EVMs deployed in elections in India," the EC said in a statement.
It asserted that EVMs are manufactured under strict supervisory and security conditions and rigorous Standard Operating Procedures are meticulously observed at all stages under the supervision of a Committee of eminent technical experts constituted way back in 2010.
The EC said it is separately examining taking legal action in the matter. Shuja had said all one needed was a machine which could transmit at very low frequencies and he did so with the help of a graphite-based transmitter.
At the event that was also broadcast live on Facebook, Shuja made a number of sensational unsubstantiated political claims regarding late BJP minister Gopinath Munde.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Kapil Sibal's presence as the lone political representative at the event prompted the BJP to attack Congress and describe the event as handiwork of forces that want to end a flourishing Indian democracy. Union minister Arun Jaitley said, "Does the Congress feel that the people are so gullible that they will swallow any garbage? Insanity in the Congress party is increasingly becoming contagious."
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also used the opportunity to attack the BJP. She tweeted — during the event — "Our great democracy must be protected. Every vote of yours is precious."
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